The government of Janez Janša has survived the vote of no confidence that was filed against it in the National Assembly. The Constitutional Arch Coalition candidate for the position of Prime Minister, Karl Erjavec, did not manage to get enough votes in the secret ballot. The vote of no confidence was supported by 40 MPs, with seven voting against it. Fifty-three ballots were picked up, all of which were also returned. Six ballots were invalid.
Yesterday, all of the political speculations and guesses of the left-wing opposition, which had been preparing a plan for the overthrowing of the government of Janez Janša from the very beginning, were finally dispelled.
With generous support from the media, the filing of the vote of no confidence was announced several times, but it was then also postponed. This time, it turned out that they failed to secure even the announced 43 votes, which is bizarre in itself when it comes to the use of the political instrument of the vote of no confidence
The agony is finally over
With Monday’s vote in the National Assembly, the project of the Constitutional Arch Coalition has also finally ended. From the very beginning, we have claimed that this was an artificially inflated project, which was prepared in conjunction with the deep state and the media, which artificially kept the Constitutional Arch Coalition “alive.” The ill-conceived project of the parties, which disintegrated from their political union about a year ago, did not inspire hope in the remaining parties and deputies, even though they used illegal and immoral tactics, threats and attacks to try and get what they wanted. And choosing Karl Erjavec for a possible Prime Minister was also not a very wise choice from the very beginning, as the public opinion polls also clearly indicated.
The members of the ruling coalition have posted their responses on Twitter.
Prime Minister Janez Janša wrote: “Another busy day of preparations for the two regular weekly sessions of the government, the leading of the European Council, and the fight with the coronavirus epidemic. Meanwhile, the Members of Parliament counted themselves and finally figured out that not even everyone from the SD, Levica, LMŠ and SAB parties actually supports the project of the Constitutional Arch Coalition.”
“Tomorrow is a new day, and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia invites all parliamentary groups from the National Assembly to work with us in overcoming the epidemic, and to join our forces in the effort of ensuring the well-being of Slovenia. Let’s not build our future on resentment, there is enough space for everyone, and we can all recognise ourselves in the colours of Slovenia.”
Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, wrote: “The outcome was expected, and this puts an end to months of losing our energy over this. Now we could at least try to join forces for the serious challenges that wait ahead. Let’s overcome resentment and lay the foundations for a different policy. Let’s move ahead.”
“The agony of the vote of no confidence is over. I am glad we finally counted ourselves. After the count, it is clear that the Government of the Republic of Slovenia is solid. Our work is aimed at curbing the spread of the epidemic, ensuring accessible public health, and strengthening the economy,” wrote the Minister of Defence Matej Tonin.
Igor Zorčič, the Speaker of the National Assembly, posted the following: “Weeks of speculation are finally behind us. In the end, the secret ballot showed that a candidate for the position of Prime Minister did not even have all the votes of the Constitutional Arch Coalition.”
SDS MP Jure Ferjan wrote: The Constitutional Arch Coalition vote of no confidence:
For: 40
Against: 7
Invalid ballots: 6
The Constitutional Arch Coalition farce is finally over. Goodbye Constitutional Arch Coalition and Karl Erjavec. Stay healthy and good luck. The coalition remains united. The majority acted in a state-building manner. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia under the leadership of Janez Janša will continue to work for the good of the people and our country Slovenia.”
Members of the opposition also responded. President of the LMŠ party, Marjan Šarec, posted this: “The vote of no confidence offered all MPs the opportunity to vote for the normalisation of the country. Forty of us exercised our right; the rest were more concerned with other interests. Our conscience is clear. The next vote will not happen in the National Assembly, but in the elections.”
And the president of the SAB party, Alenka Bratušek, wrote: “A lot more votes FOR than AGAINST the vote of no confidence. This is also a very clear message.”
Sara Kovač
